Lighthouses needed maintenance just like any building
does. In order to do maintenance, you need tools. The Lighthouse Service
issued a wooden toolbox to lighthouses and lightships for daily routine
repairs. The wooden box was typical of the construction at the time with
nice dovetailed joints, deep enough and strong enough to hold the tools with
a sturdy bottom. A few dividers were used in the box to separate tools. The
lid had a lock mechanism installed with one of the old time skeleton type
keys. The boxes varied slightly in size depending on who made them. Some
were contracted out to box manufacturers and then the US Lighthouse
Establishment brass tag was secured to the top of the box in the center.
Brass or bronze handles were installed on the sides to help with lifting the
heavy chest and the lid was hinged in the back.

With lighthouses located in remote areas and people
being more self sufficient in the old days, lighthouse keepers had to do all
minor repair work. Major repair work was contracted out or done by a
Lighthouse Service Tender crew. For example, a task such as whitewashing the
tower was done by the lighthouse keepers, but a major leak in the lantern
room tower would be something done by a contractor or a lighthouse tender
crew.

The list of
tools here is a very rare list to find and is very insightful into the lives
of the lighthouse keepers. Unfortunately, the complete tool chest that this
list came from no longer exists, but only the top lid to it does, and that
is only the center board of it which is a little larger than this document
which was on a 8-1/2” X 11” piece of paper. These tool chest inventory
sheets were glued to the inside portion of the lid as this one was to help
keep track of tools. We were fortunate enough to come across this list and
the owner of it shared it with us so we could help educate other museums and
the public about it. As noted on the document, it is from the Second
Lighthouse District. We have no reason not to believe that this list would
not be very similar in all locations.

See far below for the full
list of tools supplied from the original paper.

Tool chest with lid closed. The top of this chest appears to
have brass corner protectors installed as well.

The tool chest lid with the US Lighthouse Establishment brass name
plate.